


Respectable Punk

by solomivan



Series: Punk Singer Carmilla [1]
Category: Carmilla (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Celebrity, Alternate Universe - Writing & Publishing, Alternate Universe- No Supernatural, Don't Have to Know Canon, Don't copy to another site, Established Relationship, F/F, Human Sacrifice (mentioned), Murder (mentioned), Past Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Punk singer!Carmilla, Rehabilitation, lawstein - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-19
Updated: 2019-11-19
Packaged: 2021-02-13 01:17:16
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,648
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21485950
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/solomivan/pseuds/solomivan
Summary: Laura Hollis, a successful journalist, receives a new task from her editor after finishing an undercover investigation: to conduct an interview with the famous punk singer Carmilla Karnstein and find out how the transformation from a girl with a scandalous reputation to a respectable lady occurred.
Relationships: Carmilla Karnstein/Danny Lawrence
Series: Punk Singer Carmilla [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1619317
Comments: 8
Kudos: 11





	Respectable Punk

**Author's Note:**

> A/N All characters and the world owned by KindaTV, and I do not claim any ownership over them.
> 
> The history of Carmilla here is partially inspired by her actress, Natasha Negovanlis.
> 
> All characters live in Toronto, Canada.
> 
> There is a mention of Sarah Jane/Kirsh.
> 
> I'm very grateful to my beta [kuchi](https://archiveofourown.org/users/kuchi)

The editor, Perry, congratulated the journalist, Laura Hollis, who returned after a risky undercover investigation."Welcome back, Laura! I received all the materials you sent yesterday on my email. I’m glad you are okay and can continue doing your work.” 

Laura smiled and thanked Perry for her concern. Perry always took care of her staff. Because of this she was named as "Our mother hen" in Laura's phone contacts.

Perry continued, “Our chief editor, Mattie, said that due to your reports, all the mobsters would be in prison for a very long time." She recommended performing less dangerous tasks. She wanted by that weekend the interview with the famous punk singer Carmilla Karnstein, who turned 30 yesterday and recorded a new album about it, "Three Decades."

Laura went to her desk in the cubicle in the middle of the main office. She was greeted by her colleagues and was immediately asked about the details of the investigation. Natalie asked curiously, "Laura, what did you discover? I heard rumors that this gang was responsible for grueling crimes, including human trafficking for some cultists and the massacre in the studio of the channel SNN where 12 people were killed."

Laura sighed. "Yes, it was their work. That cult wanted to open all the gates of Hell to bring their beloved back from the grave. The mass murdering was intended as a cautionary tale for people who knew too much. The culprits also distributed various drugs and ran some casinos," she confirmed. "It was difficult to infiltrate them, so my cover was the following: plenty of violent robberies, multiple first-degree murders, occasional narcotics sales. I gradually earned the trust of the gang members by following all their orders and making useful suggestions."

Natalie nodded, urging Laura to continue with a worried look on her face. 

"One of the lieutenants, Teo Straka, thought the leader, Baron Cornelius Von Vondenberg, had held his position for too long and should give way to the young people, i.e. him. He asked me to help him and develop the plan. After I stabbed Baron to death, Teo tried to kill me as well, since I was a possible witness and/or rival," recalled Laura, grimacing at the memory. "However, I was quicker and eliminated him first. I created an impression for the rest of the group that Teo and Cornelius killed each other by planting my dagger in Baron's right hand."

Laura decided to contact the singer's agent before the interview. The web page about Carmilla had a black background and white text. Links to all its sections were pinned to the top. Laura clicked "contact" and the page quickly scrolled down to the address and phone of the agency. She dialed the number. A voice answered , "Hello, my name is Mary Ringwold. I'm the Carmilla Karnstein’s manager. How can I help you?"

Laura replied, "Hello, Ms. Ringwold. I'm Laura Hollis, a journalist from the magazine 'Silas News'. I wanted to know if it's possible to interview Ms. Karnstein before this Saturday? We are planning to dedicate the front page of the next issue to her. Many people are interested in her career and the reasons behind changes in her life."

Mary answered, "Carmilla Karnstein is a very busy woman. She can talk to you only today before 9 PM because she will be in Austria from tomorrow until next Tuesday.” She added briskly, “Please give me your mobile number and note down her address." Laura did it, noticing that the house was on the edge of the city. Laura could not remember why the location was vaguely familiar.

The manager called back five minutes later. "Carmilla Karnstein will speak with you today at 1 PM. She'll be waiting for you. Please, don't be late, she prefers punctuality. If you leave your building now, you'll have another 15 minutes to spare in case you get lost. Casual, clean neat clothes are fine. Have a good day."

Laura looked at herself: a white shirt, blue jeans, grey socks, and black boots. She informed her colleagues and editor that she was going to the interview. She found her voice recorder, put it in her bag, then quickly got to the underground, sat in the train, and started to read the singer's biography. Before today, she knew only a few facts about Carmilla Karnstein’s life.

Laura had heard about her background in classical music since childhood. Carmilla studied voice performance at McGill University in Montréal, where during the first course she created her punk band "Vampire Countess" along with her three friends from there: drummer Rose Gespenst, electric guitar player Charlotte Bronte, and her sister, pianist Emily. Carmilla wrote all the lyrics and music by herself. The first performances won some awards in amateur competitions. This success attracted the attention of Lilita Morgan, the head of the record company "Morgan Corporation." During concerts, Carmilla was frequently congratulated by her old fan Danny Lawrence, a famous archer and her classmate from the school. They slowly fell in love, married, and adopted a rescue, a black and white puppy named Charlie. During her career, Carmilla amassed a loyal fan base of over 285K collective followers on social media, where she was globally admired for her sense of humour and support of LGBTQ visibility and mental health awareness.

Laura wanted to continue reading, but she noticed they had reached her station. She exited the train and quickly went to the written address. When she reached the destination, she saw a steel fence with three-meter high pointed bars and a CCTV system, surrounding a large classical Baroque mansion. Laura came to the gates, registering that Carmilla had already opened the door and stood next to it greeting her. 

“Hello. You must be Laura. Please, follow me.”

When they were crossing the gently mowed lawn Laura looked at the singer: black shoulder-length hair, warm smile, kind eyes, angular cheekbones. Carmilla was in rather casual clothes — a white T-shirt with the black slogan “I’m your friendly neighbourhood punk”, black jeans and a leather jacket, grey socks, white sneakers — despite her large fortune from selling CDs, downloads, and concert tickets.

They entered the hallway and Carmilla advised, “Don’t forget to change out of your shoes and put on those slippers with the black panthers on it. Put your jacket on the hanger. Then go to the living room just right down the hall.”

Laura did as she was told. She registered a lot of beautiful pictures, photos, and posters on the walls. In the middle of the room was a sleepy dog on his oval mat with black and white stripes, who opened his right eye and in a second closed it. Carmilla smiled a little. “Charlie is old, so he isn’t as active as he was before. I remember how he was constantly running and playing with his toys during his childhood. Now Charlie prefers to sleep, eat, and watch TV with my wife Danny.”

Laura drew her eyes around the room, as if to ask why Danny was not here now. 

Carmilla smiled. “She is participating in the main Canadian long archery championship at the moment.”

Then Carmilla pointed at the sofa, half-full with large stuffed animals including an angelfish and a pterodactyl. “Now we can sit and talk without any obstacles. Before we start, do you want tea or coffee? If yes, then what about milk or sugar?”

Laura nodded, “Sugar with tea is okay. Sorry, I meant tea with sugar. I’m just used to calling it that way because of my old habit of putting at least four teaspoons of sugar.” Carmilla went to the kitchen. Laura spied a pinball machine decorated in a spooky theme in the corner. Carmilla returned with two cups of hot tea after six minutes. She put them on the small square wooden table near Laura. 

Laura took the recorder from her bag and turned it on. “First of all, you and your home are almost the exact opposite of my expectations of a punk singer’s house: way too domestic and rather cute. I recalled before you became such a respectable lady you had a scandalous reputation: a new girl in your bed every week, public swearing, violent threats to people who annoyed you and even fights with them, frequent drunkenness in bars. Was it Danny Lawrence who changed you into a more... socially appropriate person?”

Carmilla nodded, “Well, she was one of the main factors. She spent one month persuading me to mature. Honestly, at that moment I wanted to grow up. Besides, Lilita Morgan was tired of my behaviour that caused constant gossip, not to mention legal action. She warned me that she might terminate my contract if I continued that lifestyle.” She paused, shifting uncomfortably. “Despite being one of her geese that lay golden eggs, I would end up on the street without any rights to all my works because they belong to her, according to the agreement. All members of our band would be in the blacklist of every record company.”

Laura nodded in sympathy, waiting for Carmilla to continue. 

“And about my behaviour, which you described before. I was young, impulsive, with no sense of respect and self-control. I thought, ‘We live only once. Posterity can bite me, I have better things to do.’ I just wanted no responsibility." Carmilla laughed derisively at her former self. "From the beginning, I told those girls: ‘I am simply planning to have a good time without any obligations.’ I assume you can understand my wish to punish people saying unpleasant, sometimes even gross, things to me.”

“Maybe your drunkenness and a one-time incident with your drunk anger at Danny were a consequence of your alcoholism? I read about you being in rehab.”

Carmilla explained, “You are right. I foolishly assumed it wouldn’t appear in me and that my visits to the bars weren’t a symptom of something more. My brother William and I inherited this disease from my mother. Only her daughter from her first marriage, who is your chief editor Mattie, avoided the illness. My mother always refused to call herself ‘alcoholic’. She told us, ‘It is a word related to the lower class, not to the Dean of Toronto University.’ She drank behind the doors of her office and at home. Unlike many drunkards, she wasn’t aggressive after drinks, just ignorant of others, including her children. She died from cirrhosis before she would know that her son dearest was violently killed after he offended the wrong people, the mobsters of Baron Cornelius Von Vondenberg.”

"So, you weren't close to your brother? People usually don't use 'dearest' talking about someone beloved. 'Her son' is an additional indicator of your absence of relationship with him," interested Laura. She was an only child, so she could only imagine interactions between siblings

Carmilla shrugged, "Yes, we spoke a little. He had his luxurious life: parties, cars, bars. I had mine: performances, concerts, talk shows, etc. I want to add that the situation with Mattie was reversed. We were in touch all my life."

Carmilla started to describe the situation happened between her and Danny, “Now about the incident. That day, I drank one half-liter bottle of vodka owing to a completely spoiled performance: we overlapped with another band due to the wrong date and time sent by the administration, the equipment was almost non-functional, some hooligans screamed through the megaphones. Danny warned me not to drink such an enormous amount of alcohol, but I decided, ‘I deserved it!’ We started to argue.”

Carmilla drew a deep breath. “I lost my patience, became angry, and threw a glass at her. Fortunately, I didn’t hurt her. I still cannot forget the horror in her eyes. It was the proverbial last straw. I immediately apologized, suggested rehab and divorce. She agreed to the former while refusing to have the latter: She told me, ‘You deserve better. You need one more chance.’ I did all the required medical procedures and was completely cured. I understood it was necessary for everybody. Now I’m strict with this issue.”

Laura said, “I remember your song ‘Hyde My Jekill’ from that period: ‘_I'm a monster, a nightmare! Please, lock me in the cage or the coffin with the blood!_‘ The next question,’Could you describe the development of your relationship with Danny?”

Carmilla nodded. "In school, we were just classmates. We occasionally spoke with each other but nothing more than that. She was a literature TA, whilst I preferred history. Thus, I was surprised when she came to my concert and admitted she was my fan from my first performance, which she saw on YouTube. Danny asked for an autograph and suggested we sit in a café and discuss our lives. I was curious whether it was a date or just a friendly meeting. She said it was up to me to decide."

Carmilla took a short break to sip some tea and go on with her story, "During the first semester Danny had joined the archery section of the athletic club 'Summer Society', where one of her friends advised her to listen to my music. I told her about my successful musical career. When we earned enough money, we wanted to buy a house and live together. This mansion had a huge discount.” Her tone became sadder, “But after we bought it, we found it was here that a decade ago several young girls were brutally killed by a religious cult, 'to summon an ancient goddess Inanna, so she'd open all seven gates of Hell and resurrect the dead friends and family members of the cultists.' I wrote the song 'Ten Little Girls' in memory of that: '_I was poisoned, stabbed, burned to ash._' Ten days later we went to the shelter, where we adopted this cute dog."

Laura went to take one more sip when she discovered that she had already drank all the tea. She said, "I love him. I'm surprised that such a cult wanted to call on the goddess of fertility and not the goddess of the underworld, Ereshkigal, who had control over life and death. I want to know three more things: the history of the band's name, the current fate of the rest of its members, and any information regarding a new album."

Carmilla answered, "Maybe those psychopaths did it because Inanna was also the goddess of war. About the name of my musical group, Carmilla Karnstein is a pseudonym made as a partial anagram of my real name – Mircalla Von Karnstein. Being an actual Countess, albeit, without any inherited land, castle, or fortune, it was fun to call my punk band "Vampire Countess" because of my outward appearance during that time."

Carmilla remembered what happened with the rest of the band: "Rose married my manager Mary after six dates, Charlotte is recently engaged to Danny's old rival, Melanippe Callis, Emily is dating a photographer from your journal, Sarah Jane Kirsh. They are all going to create their solo musical projects in addition to playing in our band. The new album includes our most popular songs ('Murder for Christmas', 'Alchemical Club', 'Zombie Fungus', etc.), melodies as interludes, intro and outro, new works, like 'Love Will Have Its Sacrifices' – '_We could live forever and suffer, Die as one, together as lovers._'”

"Thanks for the interview. Your story was unusual. I love that you cleared up all the moments which were only rumored and guessed about before." Laura turned her recorder off, stood from the sofa and shook hands with Carmilla. 

"It was a pleasure to talk with you, Laura. If you want, we might meet again. I hope I'll be able to introduce you and Danny. May I walk you to the gate?"

Laura thanked Carmilla and said she would find the way by herself. Then she returned to her office to prepare a transcript of the interview.


End file.
